No Right Answer: Best Way to Watch TV - Binge Viewing or Week to Week?

[Valkrex]

I guess you could say this topic has... *shades* No Right Answer.

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!

*ahem* OT: Yea it seems really down to personal preference and what show you're watching. Personally I prefer binge watching and if I'd had to wait a week between episodes of Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, I would have gone insane.

 

[Greg Tito]

I just wanted to pop in and say Kyle is completely wrong about 24. It is only good for me as a binge-watching experience because you can get through a few plotlines in a night of viewing 3 or 4 episodes. Watching 24 week-to-week is boring and weird, at least for me.

Chris is the future!

 

[FPLOON]

I was going to bige-watch all of No Right Answer at one point in time... but, then I remember when I tried to do that with Zero Punctuation... (My laugh box took a while to recover from that incident, mind you...)

Anyway, I say watch an episode a day to keep your cravings from controlling and/or dictating you life, basically... That's the only watch to binge-watch in real time, in my opinion, without completely neglecting the "week-to-week"-esque structure completely... (Then again, as a show creator, that should be something to put into consideration once viewers are given ways of doing either or down the line, basically... But, that's just me...)

 

[Lightknight]

It sounds like the complaint is that some people can't control themselves when a good show has available episodes so they want the option taken away from everyone so that they don't do that to themselves.

This isn't something I appreciate people advocating they control for me. It's insulting, frankly. I'm a big boy and I know when to go to bed. I've got all kinds of entertainment at my disposal that could keep me busy every waking moment and yet somehow we find the strength to go to bed and go to work.

Look, just make all the shows available when possible and let viewers decide what to do with it. Don't make those of us who can actually control our impulses suffer because others lack self control. That's ridiculous, like removing soda from shelves because there are fat people who are addicted to them. People who want to mete it out over time can do that with all episodes released at once but people who just want to binge watch can't if you make it time-released.

The only middle ground I can think of is if they released a few episodes at a time. Some binge watching, some arbitrary totalitarian control. But even then, the insult is still there that I can't view content that has already been made because you can't handle it being there to your detriment.

As far as network TV, I understand that it's all about the adds. I get that they have to have it as weekly releases and that they have to have ads in it. Netflix is just looking for subscribers to their service so ads are a non-issue. Huluplus has the subscription angle that benefits one huge spike to get people subscribed too and they also have generally successful ads that can't be blocked as far as I'm aware. So binge watching works great for them. TV services are also generally perfecting On Demand that prevents fast forwarding over the adds. So the solution isn't full release or weekly releases on their end, it's really just about making sure the ads can't be blocked. If the ads have to be watched then they really shouldn't give a rat's ass over whether or not people watch them instantly or over weeks. It's the same amount of money in the bank for them.

As for the article that brought this up. For it to be a legitimate study on the comparison of the spike you'd have to have two or more examples of shows with similar fan bases/popularity to compare. Then you have to see if the total area on the graph under the one large spike for multiple episodic releases are greater or less than the total sum of the smaller spikes for the episodic release. If the difference is more or less for one then I guess that's saying something. But really it comes down to number of clicks. Who cares about social buzz if one show gets clicked a million more times? Maybe the two don't necessarily correlate if one large spike actually generates more clicks overall even if the amount of buzz over the life of the season is different? It certainly deserves to be reviewed but these are significant criticisms of the study.

I agree with you in part but I think there's the problem of not being in a bubble. Sure you may pace things out properly to fit the show but others probably won't. Why is this your problem? Think about someone who rushed through game of thrones the first night of release and decides that means spoilers are okay a week later cause it's been out that long. There are too many people like this. It would be a nightmare to pace yourself and avoid having everything spoiled for you. Not impossible but it would be an unpleasant experience to say the least. The other issue is that it keeps everyone on the same page. If it's a show you like to discuss with others it's nice to have that uniform break in between with everyone on the same page instead of some people already being finished and making smug noises at your theories on where its going and others completely lost or unable to participate because they're just going through it slower. It's nice to have everyone on the same page. I'm not 100% on either being the best answer but a nicely paced show does have some uses beyond self regulating.

Are you saying that weekly shows like Game of Thrones don't still have a "spoilers" problem there too? I don't know about you but I haven't watched live TV in about four years now. I got's shit to do, yo, and my DVR allows that I decide what I watch and when. You want to guess how I did with just one day delay when a certain character died via poison? I didn't.

So I categorically reject that episodic TV is somehow immune to the same thing. For all but the people who still watch it live. Now, from my personal experience not even my parents still do that and I once had a ten minute conversation with my mother on how to unplug a router (it was mainly over the confusion of if she should unplug it from the wall or from the device and rather than just giving her an answer I tried to explain that either option would work.... *sigh*).

Do you watch shows live yourself or do you regularly find yourself a few days behind on some?

 

[fletch_talon]

Best Way to Watch TV - Binge Viewing or Week to Week?

Bingeing on a TV season can be an experience different than the normal week-to-week viewing, but is it to the detriment of the series?

Watch Video

Is someone on the team a Yogscast fan? Or was the picture taken from the Honeydew version of the He-Man version of the song 'What's Up' by 4 Non Blondes just a coincidence?

Either way a good choice.

 

[erbkaiser]

Binge watch for me. Most series I want to watch aren't even on TV here, or if they are, they are at really inconvenient times. So it's much easier to pop in a DVD or BluRay or go on Netflix in the weekend and watch a couple of episodes of the series, then repeat the next time I have free time available.

Yes, this doesn't always work well for series designed to have a separate story each week without a main story for the whole season but honestly, those aren't really the shows I do this for. I don't see myself sitting down and watch 4 CSI episodes in a row, but I will do so for e.g. Doctor Who.

 

[Dollabillyall]

The side of the story that I think was missed in this episode is that a lot of binge watchers don't actually full-on watch as much as they can in the shortest amount of time. Sometimes you watch a season in a weekend, sometimes you watch 2 or 3 episodes in a week and sometimes you take a month-long break from watching a show. It all depends on personal preference and circumstance.

The main point of this is that not every viewer is created equally. Some people don't have the motivation or time to watch everything at once or one episode a week. I've seen many people being turned off to Game of Thrones despite liking it saying they just don't like or can't handle the way it's scheduled. One particular friend works as a captain on sea freighters and is either gone for three months or home for three months at a time. Binge watching shows fills up his free time while once-a-week shows are next to impossible for him to get invested in due to his work schedule.

It seems that the spit-take argument that people want control deserved points. Not everyone has the same life and/or personal preferences. In an age where control over media consumption has become almost absolute it just seems silly to keep old, monolithic structures alive in favor of something that encourages consumption in the way the consumer thinks is the best fit to his or her preference. Long live consumer choice! Long live all-at-once releases!

 

[Firefilm]

Best Way to Watch TV - Binge Viewing or Week to Week?

Bingeing on a TV season can be an experience different than the normal week-to-week viewing, but is it to the detriment of the series?

Watch Video

Is someone on the team a Yogscast fan? Or was the picture taken from the Honeydew version of the He-Man version of the song 'What's Up' by 4 Non Blondes just a coincidence?

Either way a good choice.

Dan is a huge yogscast fan, and since he's the editor, everyone gets to know it! Diggy diggy hole!

 

[RTR]

Using my own experience as a reference, I think binge watching is a better option when you either have a lot of catching up to do with a show and you want to get to where it currently is, or if you have a large amount of shows that you want to catch up with, so it's better to catch up ASAP. The best part of week-to-week is the social aspect, where you know that people like you will be watching the show at the same time, and you can share that experience with others in the moment.

 

[Strazdas]

Binge watch is the only way to watch. I always wait until the season is over, then get the whole season and watch it. i dont wantch all 24 episodes at once, more like 2-3 per evening, but it rarely takes more than 2 weeks to watch whole season. watching it week-to-week would be torture to me.

As far as whats better for the show - the watchers having a choice how to watch is better for the show, obviously. that way you attract more viewers.

As far as networks/producers - tough shit, you should be catering to audience, not the other way around.